1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ink refilling apparatus and method, and more particularly, to ink refilling apparatus and method for a cartridge of an ink jet printer for refilling an ink jet printer cartridge and regulating inner pressure thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a black and white ink jet printer cartridge contains liquid ink of one color, and a color ink jet printer cartridge contains liquid inks of three colors or more. The ink jet printer cartridges are produced in various designs by manufacturers, and mostly designed to be refilled.
The ink cartridge is classified into a sponge-insertion type and an automatic pressure-control type, according to its inner structure. The sponge-insertion type is provided with a polyurethane sponge for containing the ink in the cartridge, and the automatic pressure-control type with air bags for maintaining ink ejection pressure uniform in the cartridge.
FIG. 7 shows a conventional method of refilling one color ink cartridge. A cartridge 101 includes a case 104 which is formed with an injection hole 102 for injecting the ink therein and a nozzle 103 for ejecting the ink at one side surface of the case 104, and a cap 105 which is coupled to the other side surface of the case 104. The cap 105 is formed with an air-flow hole (not shown) through which external air is injected into air bags (not shown) in the case 104.
In order to refill the above ink cartridge 101, a needle of an injector 106 containing the liquid ink is inserted into the injection hole 102, and then a piston 106a is pushed to expel the ink from the injector 106. After the injector 106 is removed from the cartridge 101, the injection hole 102 is blocked, and a predetermined amount of external air is injected into the air bags in the case 104 through the air-flow hole formed at the cap 105, by means of another injector. Thereby, the inner pressure of the cartridge 101 is adequately adjusted, and the refilling steps are eventually completed.
However, the above conventional refilling method has problems due to troublesome refilling steps and the risk of a messy ink spill. Also, the cartridge which is not used for a long time can not be refilled by the conventional method, because the ink remaining at the nozzle solidifies, and thus the nozzle becomes blocked.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink refilling apparatus and method for a cartridge of an ink jet printer by which an ink cartridge can be more easily and conveniently refilled and the ink is prevented from leaking or being spilled on user""s clothes or hands.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink refilling apparatus for a cartridge of an ink jet printer for refilling a cartridge including a case storing ink, an injection hole through which the ink is injected into the case and a nozzle for ejecting the ink, comprising:
an injector including a cylinder containing the ink, an ejecting protrusion formed integrally at an end of the cylinder and having an ejection hole, an enclosing protrusion formed integrally at the end of the cylinder while surrounding the ejecting protrusion and being spaced apart therefrom and formed with a female screw around the inner periphery, and a piston inserted into the cylinder for ejecting the ink in the cylinder; and
a refill holder including a base onto which the cartridge is fittingly seated, a first supporting wall which is bent vertically from an end of the base to contactingly support one surface of the cartridge and is formed with a mounting hole which communicates with the injection hole of the cartridge, a second supporting wall which is bent vertically from the other end of the base to contactingly support the other surface of the cartridge, and a coupling member which is fitted into the mounting hole.
The coupling member includes a coupling protrusion which is insertedly bonded to the mounting hole, a contacting plate which is integrally formed at the coupling protrusion while being larger than the coupling protrusion and contacts the outer surface of the first supporting wall, an inserting protrusion which is integrally formed at the contacting plate and formed with a male screw around the outer periphery to be teeth-engaged with the female screw of the injector, and an ink injection passage which is formed through the coupling protrusion, the contacting plate and the inserting protrusion in an axial direction and communicates with the injection hole of the cartridge.
The ink refilling apparatus further comprises an exhaust holder including a base onto which the cartridge is fittingly seated, a first supporting wall which is bent vertically from an end of the base to contactingly support one surface of the cartridge and is formed with a mounting hole which communicates with the nozzle of the cartridge, a second supporting wall which is bent vertically from the other end of the base to contactingly support the other surface of the cartridge, and a coupling member which is fitted into the mounting hole.
The coupling member including a coupling protrusion which is insertedly bonded to the mounting hole, a contacting plate which is integrally formed at the coupling protrusion while being larger than the coupling protrusion and contacts the outer surface of the first supporting wall, an inserting protrusion which is integrally formed at the contacting plate and formed with a male screw around the outer periphery to be teeth-engaged with the female screw of the injector, and an ink exhaust passage which is formed through the coupling protrusion, the contacting plate and the inserting protrusion in an axial direction and communicates with the nozzle of the cartridge.
An ink refilling method comprises the steps of:
(S1) providing an injector which includes a cylinder containing ink and being formed with an ejecting protrusion and an enclosing protrusion surrounding the ejecting protrusion and a piston inserted into the cylinder, and a refill holder which includes an inserting protrusion coupled to the enclosing protrusion of the injector and is formed with an ink injection passage at the inserting protrusion;
(S2) mounting the cartridge to the refill holder such that the injection hole of the cartridge communicates with the ink injection passage of the refill holder;
(S3) inserting the ejecting protrusion of the injector into the ink injection passage of the refill holder;
(S4) injecting the ink into the cartridge through the ink injection passage and the injection hole by pushing the piston of the injector toward the ejecting protrusion;
(S5) regulating inner pressure of the cartridge by drawing the piston from the ejecting protrusion to extract a predetermined amount of ink from the cartridge through the injection hole;
(S6) demounting the cartridge from the refill holder;
(S7) providing an exhaust holder which includes an inserting protrusion coupled to the enclosing protrusion of the injector and is formed with an ink exhaust passage at the inserting protrusion;
(S8) mounting the cartridge to the exhaust holder such that the nozzle of the cartridge communicates with the ink exhaust passage of the exhaust holder;
(S9) inserting the ejecting protrusion of the injector into the ink exhaust passage of the exhaust holder;
(S10) extracting a predetermined amount of ink from the cartridge through the nozzle by drawing the piston from the ejecting protrusion; and
(S11) demounting the cartridge from the exhaust holder.